Time off doesn’t equate to downtime: understanding your mindset for optimal wellbeing

For many people working in early childhood education and care (ECEC), a new year comes with a renewed promise to “reset” and think about goals, priorities, practises and ways of working which will serve them through the year and beyond. 

• You don’t see your own wellbeing as a priority, for example, you are too busy, you feel like you are constantly on a treadmill, your family life is challenging, you have a constant stream of work to do. All this may be true and it may be really exhausting but how we respond to these situations will determine how well we feel. 

• If we approach these situations from a different mindset, one which supports us and shows we care about ourselves, a mindset that prioritises us in those moments, then we can move through these situations with much more ease. 

• Ultimately, our nervous system (parasympathetic and sympathetic) should be in a state of balance. Otherwise we are in constant fight or flight mode and we can become unwell. We can balance our nervous system by simply taking deep breaths in with longer exhalations.

• Can you acknowledge that your wellbeing is one of the most important things you can do for yourself? Maybe you can’t see it yet or you may choose not to see the importance of your own wellbeing (see first point).

• Step back and ask yourself, if this was a friend what would I say to them? Something like, "You should slow down, look after yourself, take some rest and be kind to yourself". Become your own friend and your mind and body will respond in a more positive manner to the situations around you.

• Giving yourself five minutes intermittently throughout the day by closing your eyes, relaxing your shoulders, taking deep breaths and unclenching the jaw can do wonders for your nervous system. Maybe put in your ear buds and listen to relaxing music or dance and shake out your limbs to release pent up tension. Everyone has 5 minutes available here and there (if not go back to the first point in the positive mindset paragraph).

• Do more yoga/meditation/relaxation/mindfulness for yourself and with the children intermittently throughout your day. Try taking a few deep breaths together every time you sit down to read children a story or say positive affirmations while you are all sitting at the lunch table.

• Step out into nature and be in the moment by observing how the leaves move, the clouds blow by or find joy in watching the magpies hopping around on the grass.

• Bring reflective questions into your everyday life such as how did I respond to that? Could I have responded better? Include check ins such as how am I feeling right now? What thoughts are racing around in my head? 

• Give yourself permission to be present for just a few moments. When we recognise that these moments are beneficial to our wellbeing we ultimately respond to our environment better. Also, we learn to recognise that whatever it is we need to still do will be there after our downtime and that it can wait for just a couple more minutes!

• Taking these moments to reset allows us to tackle things with much more clarity, positivity and patience.